Some central and southern parts of China suffered catastrophic flooding last week, as an active frontal system stalled across the country. On Wednesday, 128mm of rain fell in just 6 hours at Mengshan, Guangxi province; by Friday, 550,000 people had been evacuated from their homes and at least 100 died as levees burst. More torrential rain fell across parts of south-east China through the weekend, eventually easing on Sunday night: over 100mm fell quite widely across Anhui province.

Cloudbursts elsewhere in Asia were welcomed as monsoon rains lashed southern India. The monsoon season in India typically lasts from June to September. The monsoons were delayed in 2009 and 2010, which caused local food prices to soar, but this year the rains have arrived on time and farmers have already started to plant their crops. At Ratnagiri (north of Goa), 200mm of rain fell on Thursday.

In the US, parts of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona endured maximum temperatures of over 40C each day last week, with 43.9C recorded in Wichita Falls, Texas on Friday. Temperatures in this region will continue to stay some 7 to 10C above the average during the next few days as high pressure lingers overhead. This heat, combined with very low humidity and freshening winds, contributed to severe wild fires across parts of Arizona. A huge blaze near Sierra Vista on Friday destroyed about 50 homes.